Newport Beach to party with beer, bands, wine, barbecue, athletes

A charity event can be a dinner, a walk, an auction or, as Newport Beach is demonstrating this weekend, a rollicking party.

The Newport Beach Party, a community celebration running Friday through Sunday at the Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina, will gather local nonprofits to help raise money for each organization.

The three-day event will feature beer, bands, barbecue competitions, bounce houses, train rides, arts and crafts and food.

Guests can meet athletes from the Special Olympics and UCLA and USC. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Newport Beach Host Town Committee of Special Olympics Los Angeles and other charities.

Here’s the schedule, with highlights of each day:

• 6 to 10 p.m. Friday: The Newport Beach Wine Invitational Competition is a tasting event that will involve samples of more than 100 wines. Trumpeter and singer Ilya Serov will play jazz standards and original compositions.

• Noon to 10 p.m. Saturday: The Kansas City Barbecue Society will gather 30 professional barbecue teams from across the country to compete for a cash prize. Visitors also can taste entries in the first Orange County Beer Competition and cast votes for their favorites. Radio station KX/93.5 FM will present local bands, and guests can listen to cover bands on the main stage.

• Noon to 8 p.m. Sunday: Festivities will include wine tasting, a food village, a Special Olympics awards ceremony for local high school students and volunteers, and USC vs. UCLA games with former football coaches Terry Donahue and John Robinson.

Newport Dunes is at 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach. Admission is $20 to $195; children 12 and younger are admitted free.

For more information, call (866) 534-5665 or visit newportbeachparty.com.

—Kathleen Luppi